Mick Fleetwood remembers sitting backstage with Elton John, hearing about his plans for retiring from touring.

“He said, ‘No one believes me — not even my band,’ but as soon as my children are old enough to go to a proper school, I’m going to hang it up and be that parent that’s available for them,’ ” recalls Fleetwood Mac’s drummer and co-founder. “He’s keeping to his promise.”

It’s a question that a lot of Fleetwood’s contemporaries wrestle with. “For a while, the question was always: ‘Is this the Stones' last tour?’ But here they are going out again in grand style,” he says. “We have our own version of that in this band.”

And Fleetwood, 71, says there was a point last year when the members of Fleetwood Mac were battling about a tour that coincided with its 50th anniversary and wondering if it was time to hang it up as well.

“It was a huge deal that the band should change its dynamic this far down the road,” Fleetwood says. “We thought long and hard — though not too, too long because we knew we had to make our minds up. But we did some serious thinking about whether this was going to be end of the band really. We decided, the four of us, that was not going to be the case.”

Instead, Fleetwood, singer Stevie Nicks, singer-keyboardist Christine McVie and bassist John McVie decided to fire longtime guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, who joined the band in 1974 with Nicks, and replace him with Crowded House frontman Neil Finn and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell.

Even that surprising announcement last April didn’t end the band’s worries. “Then the joyride and the not-knowing ride of ‘this has to be the right decision’ begins,” Fleetwood says. “And it only becomes the right decision with the right chemistry and the right players.”

With the first leg of the tour successfully in the books, Fleetwood says the band is pleased with its new course, as its tour reaches Madison Square Garden for shows on Monday, March 11, and Monday, March 18. “We’re definitely all very happy,” he says. “We’re also blessed that the audiences have been beyond stellar and have come on this journey with the band on a level that’s beyond anything that we could have imagined. … But you can understand that going out at the beginning of this excursion, there was a lot at stake — a lot of musical integrity. We were just really incredibly fortunate we found two very talented gentlemen that fit incredibly well with the band and have a musical, fantastic story to tell in their own right.”

Of course, Buckingham may disagree, though the lawsuit he filed against the band in October has already been settled. “I’m not out there trying to twist the knife at all,” Buckingham told “CBS This Morning.” “I’m trying to look at this with some level of compassion, some level of wisdom.”

It’s a way of thinking that seems even more important as Buckingham recovers from open heart surgery in February that his wife says damaged his vocal cords. “It would be absolutely inappropriate if I didn’t briefly say that we are definitely relieved on many levels that he has prevailed with his health situation, with his heart attack,” Fleetwood says. “Obviously, it was a huge deal with the parting of the ways with Lindsey Buckingham.”

Fleetwood didn’t want to get into the details of the dismissal. “It’s no secret that many artists and bands have similar dynamics that they can’t talk about,” he says. “I mean look at The Beatles. … Things just happen. Some people are saddened. But rejoice in the fact that those elements in some shape or form all continued to do stellar work, as I’m sure Lindsey will in his own world and we will in our world. Life unfolds like that sometimes. We’re really enjoying the elements that we have now and the new dynamic. It’s a new day.”

Fleetwood says the band is enjoying its latest chapter, eager to try new things. They have already added “Don’t Dream It’s Over” from Finn’s band, Crowded House, and “Free Fallin’ ” from Campbell’s time with Petty into their sets. And they have brought Fleetwood Mac’s 1968 single “Black Magic Woman” back into its setlist, which Nicks rediscovered when Fleetwood performed it with his band in Maui.

“Stevie sees it and says, ‘Oh, my God, I love that song. I wanna do it,’ ” Fleetwood recalls. “And she did. And she does. It’s fun. It’s just a twist. It’s one of those songs that most people believe is not a Fleetwood Mac song. They would associate it with Santana. But it was written by Peter Green with John and myself back in the day with Jeremy [Spencer, from the band’s original lineup], so we have fun with that. And Chris gets a great rip around it. … A song like that gives her a chance to do something, in truth, that she hasn’t done in many years, which is get back to her roots and it’s of course very much in John and my backyard. And Mike couldn’t wait to be playing guitar on ‘Black Magic Woman.’ I think if there was any thought of not doing that song, I think Mike would have said, ‘You are not pulling that out of the set.’ ”

Yes, Fleetwood Mac hasn’t stopped thinking about tomorrow. “We’re very happy and we’re having a ball out here,” Fleetwood says with a laugh. “That’s something that we needed.”

WHO Fleetwood Mac

WHEN | WHERE 8 p.m. March 11 and 18, Madison Square Garden

EDGE OF HISTORY

Stevie Nicks is set to make history at the end of the month, when she becomes the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.

Nicks was already inducted in 1998, along with the rest of Fleetwood Mac. And though she recently told Rolling Stone that she’s hopeful her second induction — this time for her solo career, which includes decades of hits including “Stand Back” and “Rooms on Fire,” as well as duets like “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” with Tom Petty and “Leather and Lace” with Don Henley — will “open the doors for women to fight to make their own music,” it wasn’t something she planned on.

“I never wanted a solo career — I always wanted to be just in a band,” she told Rolling Stone. “But I just had so many songs! Because when you’re in a band with three prolific writers, you get two or three songs per album — maybe four. But I was writing all the time, so they just went into my Gothic trunk of lost songs. … To this day, I write all the time.”

Mick Fleetwood says all of Fleetwood Mac plans to be at the Barclays Center ceremony on March 29 to support Nicks for her honor. “I am really happy for her,” Fleetwood says. “She lives and breathes everything. I always go, ‘When are you going to take a break?’ But she is Like Bob Dylan, or some such creature, they never stop. … She has completely dedicated her life to her art and she’s very happy doing it. Getting her to go on a little holiday somewhere is like pulling teeth. But it’s all great.” — GLENN GAMBOA

FLEETWOOD MAC NEWS ON FACEBOOK

In April, 2013 New York Times Author Anthony Bozza began working with legendary drummer Mick Fleetwood on his life story, which will span the entire history of the band that bears his name.

In this candid, intimate portrait of a life lived in music, Mick Fleetwood sheds new light on well-known points in his history, including many incredible moments of recording and touring with Fleetwood Mac, as well as personal insights from a man who has been a major player in blues and rock 'n' roll since his teens.

The group Fleetwood Mac has sold over 140 million records worldwide, and they continue to attract a huge following, selling out their biggest arena tour ever in 2013, decades after their debut. Finally, the group's admirers will have a unique portrait of what made Mick and the rest of the group tick in the midst of their massive success and personal trials.

Stevie Nicks made history in March when the beloved singer-songwriter became the first female artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice - first as a member of Fleetwood Mac in 1998, and this year for an extraordinary solo career that spans nearly 40 years.

To honor Nicks' groundbreaking achievement, Rhino has assembled a variety of new releases that celebrate her solo career with essential recordings chosen from studio albums, live performances, and soundtrack contributions, plus several of her most-celebrated collaborations with artists including Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Don Henley, Lana Del Rey, and Lady Antebellum.

STAND BACK is available On 3-CD, 1-CD, 6-LP Vinyl, And Digital Versions.

Fleetwood Mac celebrates half century of music with a new 50-song collection that is the first to explore the group's entire career, from its early days playing the blues, to its global success as one of the most-enduring and best-selling bands in rock history. 50 YEARS-DON'T STOP is available as a 50-track, 3-CD set, a 5-LP vinyl set and a 20-track single CD version. Also available on all digital download and streaming services as well.

The new compilation touches on every era in the band's rich history and offers a deep dive into Fleetwood Mac's expansive catalog by bringing together essential tracks released between 1968 and 2013.

Solo Anthology: The Best of Lindsey Buckingham is a comprehensive record of his illustrious career. Out October 5th on Rhino Records, Buckingham’s Solo Anthology will be released as a 3-disc set on CD and digitally and will also be available as a single disc abridged release. A 6-LP vinyl release is slated for November 30th.

Similar to last year's Record Store Day where Fleetwood Mac released the alternate "Mirage" album by taking the previously issued CD from the duluxe edition reissue and making it a stand alone album, Fleetwood Mac will once again bust out the alternative album cd from 2017's deluxe reissue of "Tango In The Night". For the very first time, these alternate tracks will make their way to vinyl for this years Record Store Day on April 21st. Warner Bros. will press 4,000 copies of the vinyl for the US and 8,500 in total worldwide.

“Most of these songs were written between 1969 and 1987. One was written in 1994 and one in 1995. I included them because they seemed to belong to this special group. Each song is a lifetime. Each song has a soul. Each song has a purpose. Each song is a love story… They represent my life behind the scenes, the secrets, the broken hearts, the broken hearted and the survivors. These songs are the memories - the 24 karat gold rings in the blue box. These songs are for you,” commented Nicks.

Order '24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault

FLEETWOOD MAC 'TANGO IN THE NIGHT'

REMASTERED AND EXPANDED

(RELEASED MARCH 31, 2017)

Featuring the hits “Little Lies,” “Everywhere,” “Seven Wonders” and “Big Love,” this 30th anniversary collection is available in Deluxe- 1LP/3CD/1DVD, Expanded - 2CD, 1CD Remaster and Digital Download and on all streaming services.

MERCHANDISE

NEW ALBUM IN THE WORKS
Christine was a guest on the Ken Bruce radio program on BBC Radio 2 and was featured each morning between Oct 7th and 11th choosing the "Tracks of My Years". Each day included a short interview clip with Christine along with her track choice and why. During the last day Christine revealed that she's currently working on new material and hopefully a forthcoming solo album saying its a return to her musical sound of the 70's.